It's that time of year to make predictions for the 2023 season
#1: Red Bull Racing. The car looks the fastest, had great race pace in their long runs. No issues with reliability or tire wear. Ended 2022 with the best car, so they already had a great foundation to build on.
#2: Ferrari. This might be a hopeful prediction, but we do know the car was very good in 2022 and they evolved from that design. The car did look to have the wrong balance with the small wing they brought and the updated wing broke before they got a proper test on it. Tire wear is a huge concern and the Ferrari PU cars had reliability issues, so that could destroy their chances and put them down to 3rd even.
#3: Mercedes. Kings of the sand baggers, so for all we know they come out with the best car. Doesn't appear that way since the car still bounces, there hasn't been a lot of smiles inside their garage. With the same tires, they don't seem to have the same pace as Red Bull or even Ferrari. Despite a stoppage, I expect them to have phenomenal reliability as usual.
#4: Alpine. This is very hard choice. They looked pretty bad in testing, but they have proven to be an efficient working team and they have a very solid driver line up that usually gets the results when presented. I suspect they worked on the reliability of their PU, but reports also suggest they have the least power which is a huge handicap that will hurt them all season.
#5: Aston Martin. I truly hope they are 4th and very close to the top 3, but I doubt it. Even 5th might be a stretch. Since Stroll took over, the team buys ideas and can't translate that into actual performance. Their track record suggests that even if they have a good car, they will somehow throw that away. Alonso is a HUGE asset to the team, but only if they work around what he wants. If not, his attitude goes to crap which hurts his performance. If the team choose to develop around Daddy's son, then that is a huge mistake.
#6: McLaren. They have looked awful in testing but they have a great driver in Lando and all the resources to get it figured out. I think Oscar will be a bit of a flop so I don't expect him to bring in all that many points compared to Norris.
#7: Alfa Romeo. They just as easily could be 9th. The car looks good so far. Reliability is a big concern for them, and I expect even if they come out great, their development will again drop them down the grid just as it did in 2022. I do think their driver line up is very solid, so if the car is there they should be capable of points each week.
#8: AlphaTauri. I wouldn't be surprised if they are up there battling for 4th or 5th in the championship. Red Bull has put a lot of pressure on them this season, already talks of selling, etc. Their result last year is unacceptable in their eyes. So 8th would be disastrous for them. I worry about their drivers. Yuki did great in 2022, but he's still near the bottom for driver talent. Nyck De Vries I expect to be the stand out rookie, but he's still a rookie and so I'd expect mistakes here and there as he learns.
#9: Haas. A veteran line up but they don't really have the engineers to develop the car or come up with new ideas or solutions.
#10: Williams. I really do hope they are able to fight for points on regular basis, but why would anyone think they could over the entire season? Their testing results look like they made big gains, which is very encouraging. However, they seem to have the worst collection of designers and engineers that despite retaining a great PU, can't for the life of them build a decent chassis.
WDC:
1: Max Verstappen. Best driver in the best car, you have to predict he's the champ.
2: Charles Leclerc. Probably the only driver that comes close to Verstappen's outright pace, but still makes way too many mistakes. It really depends if Ferrari have a car and can't mess it up.
3: Lewis Hamilton. Even though he got beat by Russell last year, in the second half of the season he was definitely the better driver.
4: Sergio Perez. He'll have a car good enough to win races, so no reason why he shouldn't be top 4.
5: Carlos Sainz. If the car doesn't DNF, and he doesn't make his own silly mistakes, he is very capable of staying within a respectable reach to Charles. He can go on long streaks of scoring good points.
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Originally Posted by wisepie
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